HSE apologises for failings in care to girl (17) who took her own life while in care of CAMHS

High Court Reporters

The HSE has apologised for “failings in care” to a 17-year-old girl who took her own life while in the care of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Kerry.

The teenager’s parents broke down in court as the HSE apology was read out as they settled a High Court action over the death of their daughter four years ago.

It was the second day of the action against the HSE by the grieving mother and father who had sued for nervous shock over their daughter’s death.

The settlement was reached just before the girl’s mother, who the court previously heard had made repeated contact with CAMHS, expressing increasing concern about the girl's deteriorating mental health and looking for another appointment, was due to give evidence.

In the letter of apology from the Integrated Healthcare Area Manager, Kerry, it said, “We are truly sorry for the failings in our care of your cherished daughter and for the trauma and grief that you and your extended family have suffered and will continue to suffer as a result.”

It added: “As a result of the failings in your daughter’s care, we have engaged in a thorough reform of the services we provide to children like her, so that we can ensure as best we can that no other child or family will experience the failings in care grief and trauma that you have suffered. We sincerely appreciate your valued input into this process. We accept, however, that this should never have been necessary.”

It said it hoped that the reforms undertaken “can give some small measure of comfort” to the family and said it will continue to strive to ensure that the learnings are shared across the service while respecting the family’s right to privacy.

The apology letter from manager Julie O’Neill also said that the HSE had mistakenly thought that a written apology sent by the HSE in December 2022 had been received by them.

“We now know that you did not receive this apology, and we are again truly sorry for this,” it said.

Earlier in court, the HSE clarified its position in relation to the case and said it admitted a breach of duty to the deceased teenager over the failure to provide adequate mental health services, but it denied that a duty of care was owed to the parents.

Counsel for the parents, Patrick Treacy SC, instructed by Cian O’Carroll solicitors asked the court not to be constrained by the personal injury guidelines considering “the extreme and catastrophic nature “of the circumstances of the case and because it involved issues of public safety and concerns in relation to the provision of services by CAMHS.

Counsel had earlier told the court how in July 2021, the girl’s parents found their daughter in an upstairs bedroom of their home, where she had died by suicide.

Mr Treacy said afterwards the parents “were left in a state of utter devastation” and their shock and trauma was not possible to describe.

The “essential tragedy here”, Counsel said, is that the teenager’s parents never got a diagnosis from CAMHS of their daughter having a psychiatric condition.

The girl, the court heard, had attended some appointments with CAMHS, but after she missed a speech and language appointment in May 2021, there was no contact about the non-attendance.

Counsel said along with the efforts of her mother, the 17 year old had called into CAMHS looking for an appointment.

Approving the settlement and the division of the €35,000 statutory mental distress payment, Ms Justice Denise Brett offered her condolences and said the family had suffered an unimaginable tragedy and she hoped the ending of the legal proceedings would bring them a degree of closure.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can freephone the Samaritans 24 hours a day for confidential support at 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. Alternatively, the contact information for a range of mental health supports is available at mentalhealthireland.ie/get-support.